Reported Questions and Commands
Transforming direct questions and commands into reported speech requires careful attention to word order and verb forms. For example, the direct question "Where are you going?" becomes She asked where I was going (not where was I going), and the command "Don't move!" becomes He ordered me not to move. Notice how reported questions shift to statement word order, dropping auxiliary verbs like do or did, while reported commands rely on the infinitive form.
Inside, you'll tackle advanced indirect speech structures. You will need to choose the correct word order for reported wh- questions and yes/no questions, while also selecting the proper positive and negative infinitives for reported commands. The scenarios are packed with drama—from helping a baffled detective report on a squirrel suspect to translating a galactic commander's orders and recounting a head chef's kitchen meltdown.
You'll work through 10 questions using a mix of single-choice, multi-choice, drop-down, and drag-and-drop formats.
Try the quiz to check your knowledge!
Help the terrified waiter recount his disastrous encounter with the head chef by choosing the correct words for the blanks.
Chef Gordon demanded to know ________ the soufflé, and immediately ordered me ________ his kitchen.
The correct answer is whether I had dropped / to get out of.
Direct yes/no questions ("Did you drop the soufflé?") are reported using "whether" or "if" followed by statement word order and a backshifted tense (whether I had dropped). Direct commands ("Get out!") are reported using an object + infinitive verb pattern (ordered me to get out of).
The correct answers are I had hidden, never to enter, and whether I was planning.
Indirect Questions: When reporting a question, we change the word order to statement form (Subject + Verb) and remove auxiliaries like do/did.
- "Where did you hide it?" $\rightarrow$ "...where I had hidden it."
- "Are you planning to...?" $\rightarrow$ "...whether I was planning to..."
Reported Commands: We use an infinitive structure (verb + object + to-infinitive). For negative commands, place not or never directly before the to-infinitive.
- "Never enter my box!" $\rightarrow$ "...ordered me never to enter..."
Help the baffled detective write his official report regarding the prime suspect by choosing the correct phrase to complete the sentence.
The detective interrogated the squirrel, demanding to know ________ the acorns and why ________ at him with such disdain.
The correct answer is where it had hidden / it was looking.
In indirect (reported) questions, the word order changes from question format (verb-subject) to statement format (subject-verb), and auxiliary verbs like "did" are dropped. Additionally, the tenses backshift: the direct past simple ("where did you hide") becomes past perfect ("where it had hidden"), and present continuous ("why are you looking") becomes past continuous ("why it was looking").
The correct answers are: The commander ordered the humans to explain how the spaceship worked and asked if they had any fuel left. The commander instructed the humans to explain how the spaceship worked and wanted to know whether they had any fuel left.
The original quote contains an embedded question ("how this spaceship works") inside a command. In reported speech, the embedded question must backshift its tense ("how the spaceship worked") but must never use auxiliary inversion like "how did the spaceship work".
Furthermore, the yes/no question ("Do you have any fuel left?") must be introduced by if or whether and follow standard subject-verb word order ("if they had"). Options using "asked did they have" are incorrect because they retain the direct question auxiliary did. Finally, "commanded the humans explain" is missing the required to before the infinitive.
Complete the apprentice's diary entry about his chaotic first day at the magic tower by selecting the grammatically correct option.
The wizard furiously warned me ________ the glowing orb, asking how many times ________ to remind me.
The correct answer is not to touch / he had.
When reporting a negative command, we use "not to" + infinitive (warned me not to touch). For the reported question, we must use statement word order (subject + verb) rather than question word order, so "he had" is correct, whereas "had he" or "did he have" incorrectly retain the inverted structure of a direct question.
The correct answers are: The villain demanded to know where the secret vault was and ordered the agent not to tell anyone else. The villain inquired where the secret vault was and commanded the agent to tell no one else.
When reporting a wh- question, the word order changes from interrogative (verb-subject: "where is the vault") to declarative (subject-verb: "where the vault was"). Options with "where was the secret vault" are incorrect because they retain the inverted question word order.
When reporting a negative command, we use "not to + infinitive" (e.g., "ordered the agent not to tell"). Using "don't tell" in reported speech is grammatically incorrect.
Help the food critic reconstruct the chaotic kitchen scene for her review by dragging the correct phrases into the blanks.
The head chef demanded to know why the trainee had added so much salt to the delicate consommé, and furiously ordered him not to touch the stove for the rest of the evening.
The head chef demanded to know why the trainee had added so much salt to the delicate consommé, and furiously ordered him not to touch the stove for the rest of the evening.
Reported Questions: When reporting a "Wh-" question, we keep the question word but change the word order to a statement (subject + verb). We drop the auxiliary "do/did" and backshift the tense (Past Simple $\rightarrow$ Past Perfect). "Why did you add?" becomes "why the trainee had added".
Reported Commands: When reporting a negative command, we use the structure reporting verb + object + not + to-infinitive. "Don't touch!" becomes "ordered him not to touch".
The correct answers are: The head chef asked whether they had seasoned the soup and insisted that they clean their stations immediately. The head chef asked if they had seasoned the soup and told them to clean their stations immediately.
To report a yes/no question, you must use if or whether followed by standard subject-verb word order (no inversion). "Asked had they" and "whether had they" are incorrect because they keep the auxiliary verb before the subject.
For reporting commands, you can use a verb like told/ordered + object + to-infinitive ("told them to clean"), or a verb like insisted/demanded + that clause using the subjunctive mood ("insisted that they clean"). Note that demand cannot take an object pronoun before an infinitive ("demanded them to clean" is incorrect).
Complete the lawyer's exasperated diary entry about the eccentric billionaire's bizarre will reading. Drag the correct phrases to fill in the gaps.
During the reading of the will, the billionaire's pre-recorded hologram inquired whether the cats had been fed their daily truffles, and strictly instructed the bewildered heirs to build a solid gold statue of his favorite poodle.
During the reading of the will, the billionaire's pre-recorded hologram inquired whether the cats had been fed their daily truffles, and strictly instructed the bewildered heirs to build a solid gold statue of his favorite poodle.
Reported Yes/No Questions: We use "if" or "whether" followed by statement word order (subject + verb). The direct question "Have the cats been fed?" backshifts to the past perfect: "whether the cats had been fed." Inverted word order ("whether had the cats...") is incorrect in reported speech.
Reported Commands: For positive commands, we use reporting verb + object + to-infinitive. "Build a statue!" becomes "instructed the heirs to build".
The correct answers are my wand was sparking, to drop, not to practice, and who had broken.
Reported Wh- Questions: Use standard subject-verb word order, not question word order.
- "Why is your wand sparking?" $\rightarrow$ "...why my wand was sparking."
Reported Commands: Use the to-infinitive for positive commands and not to + infinitive for negative commands.
- "Drop it!" $\rightarrow$ "...instructed me to drop it."
- "Don't practice!" $\rightarrow$ "...warned me not to practice."
Reported Subject Questions: When the question word (who) is the subject, the word order stays the same, but the tense must backshift (from Past Simple/Present Perfect to Past Perfect).
- "Who broke the window?" $\rightarrow$ "...wondered who had broken the window."
Imperative mood
The imperative mood is the verb form English uses to give commands, instructions, requests, invitations, and warnings: Sit down, Pass the salt, Don't touch that, Have a great trip. It uses the bare verb form, omits the subject (an implied you), and is negated with don't.
Imperatives are everywhere — recipes, instructions, warning signs, road directions, casual requests. The challenge isn't forming them but choosing them: a bare imperative often sounds rude in English, so polite contexts swap them for question forms (Could you…?) or please.
Indirect speech
Indirect speech (also called reported speech) is how you tell someone what another person said without quoting their exact words. "I like apples" → He said that he liked apples. The signature move is backshift: tenses move one step into the past when the reporting verb (said, told, thought) is itself in the past — present becomes past, past becomes past perfect, will becomes would, can becomes could.
Pronouns and time expressions also shift to fit the new perspective: "I'll see you tomorrow" → She said she'd see me the next day. Mastering this is essential for B1+ communication, especially in writing.
Infinitive
The infinitive is the basic, unmarked form of a verb, used when no tense or subject agreement is needed. English has two flavours: the to-infinitive (to swim, to read) and the bare infinitive (swim, read). The to-infinitive follows verbs like want, decide, hope, plan (I want to swim); the bare infinitive follows modal verbs (I can swim) and certain causative verbs (Let him go).
Knowing which form to use after which verb is one of the trickiest distinctions in English — closely tied to the parallel choice of gerund (-ing form). I want to swim but I enjoy swimming aren't interchangeable.
Negation
Negation in English usually places not after the auxiliary or modal verb: I am not going, She does not know, You must not go. When there's no auxiliary, you add do-support: I go → I do not go. Most combinations contract: don't, can't, won't, isn't.
The trickiest rule for many learners: double negatives are not standard English. I didn't see nothing is non-standard; the standard forms are I saw nothing or I didn't see anything. Negative words like never, nobody, nothing already carry the negation — adding not on top doubles up.
Past tense
The past tense is how English talks about events finished before now. It comes in four flavours: simple past (I walked) for completed events, past progressive (I was walking) for actions ongoing at a past time, past perfect (I had walked) for events before another past event, and past perfect progressive (I had been walking) for ongoing events leading up to a past point.
Choosing the right one is what makes past narratives clear instead of murky. When I arrived, she ate dinner is technically grammatical but means something different than had eaten (already done) or was eating (in progress when you arrived).
Questions
Questions in English are typically formed by inverting the subject and an auxiliary verb: She can dance → Can she dance?. When there's no auxiliary present, English adds do-support: The milk goes in the fridge → Does the milk go in the fridge?. The same pattern handles wh-questions (Where do you live?) and negative questions (Doesn't he know?).
The trickiest variant is indirect questions — I wonder where he is, not where is he. The inversion drops because the question is embedded inside another clause. Getting this right is one of the bigger jumps from A2 to B1 fluency.
Subjunctive mood
The subjunctive mood is the verb form English uses for hypothetical, counterfactual, or formal-recommendation contexts. The two main patterns are: the present subjunctive in that-clauses after verbs of recommendation/insistence (I suggest that he go, It's essential that she be informed), and the past subjunctive were in counterfactual conditionals (If I were you).
Most subjunctive forms in modern English look identical to the indicative — the visible signs are the missing third-person -s (he go, not he goes) and were with first/third-person singular (if I were). Easy to miss; a strong marker of careful, formal English when used.
Verb tense
Verb tense is the verb form that signals when the action happens. English has three time references — past, present, and future — combined with three aspects (simple, progressive, perfect, plus perfect progressive) to give twelve standard tense forms in total.
Each tense form carries specific meaning beyond just "when". I worked (simple past) and I have worked (present perfect) both refer to past action, but only the second connects that action to the present. Picking the right tense is what makes English narratives clear; the wrong one makes meaning subtly drift.
Perfect tense
The perfect aspect marks an action as complete relative to a point in time. It's formed with have + past participle: I have eaten (present perfect), She had finished (past perfect), They will have arrived (future perfect). The perfect doesn't just say when — it says the action's completion is relevant to the time of reference.
The trickiest English-specific use is the present perfect: I have lived in Paris connects the past to now (you may still live there), while I lived in Paris doesn't. This connection is one of the biggest jumps for learners whose native language doesn't make the same distinction.
Word Order
Word order is the sequence in which words appear in a sentence. English is fundamentally an SVO language — subject, verb, object (Kate loves Mark). The order of adjectives, adverbs, and modifiers within a noun phrase also follows fixed patterns (a small red wooden box, not a wooden red small box).
In English, word order carries grammatical meaning — change the order and you change the sentence. The dog bit the man and The man bit the dog differ only in word order, but the meaning flips entirely.
C1 | Advanced
C1 is the advanced level in the CEFR framework, sitting between B2 and C2. At C1 you stop translating in your head and start thinking in English — handling specialised articles outside your field, picking up implicit meaning, and writing structured arguments on complex topics.
Grammatically, C1 means natural use of inversion (Rarely have I seen…), mixed and advanced conditionals, subjunctive forms in formal contexts, and cleft sentences for emphasis. Most university programmes for non-native speakers and many professional certifications set C1 as their entry standard.
Difficulty: Hard
The Hard difficulty tag marks questions and challenges aimed at upper-intermediate to advanced learners — typically B2 and above. Expect interacting rules, edge cases, distractors that look right at first glance, and contexts where the surface meaning and the grammatical answer don't match.
Filter by Hard when you're past the basics and want material that genuinely tests your understanding. These questions catch the gaps your textbook didn't — register-sensitive choices, exception cases, mixed conditionals, the difference between would have been and had been.